7 Secrets to Getting the Graphics You Need for Rapid E-Learning
I had a great time in Atlanta last week. It’s always so much fun getting to meet the blog readers and learning more about what people do in the real world. Two things always stand out during these trips: There is no one way to do elearning. One of the sessions I did in Atlanta was on how to get the graphics you need for your rapid elearning courses. Understand Graphic Formats You don’t need to be a graphics artist, but you should know the difference between a bitmap and vector image because they play a role in the quality of what you see on the screen. You’ll notice that some graphics will scale up and remain crisp and others get pixelated. The images that don’t pixelate are vector images. It’s Not about the Images Before investing a lot of time finding the right graphics, invest time in learning basic graphic design. The E-Learning Heroes community has a great exercise that walks you through getting the right look and feel for your elearning course. Microsoft Provides Free Resources
Free Technology for Teachers
Mathematics
Until there is time to integrate in to the rest of this page, the time has come to note that development of SEE (Super Equation Editor, a nickname for a set of plugins being developed by Mauno that now far outstrips the notion of a "plain old equation editor") that Colin has created a page to address those tools at Advanced_Maths_Tools (yes, Maths has an "s" which makes the page arguably undiscoverable by people in the US, but Americans don't speak English anyway.) Why is this exciting? Because so many of the tools you (student, pupil, admin) need are handily packaged up in something that approaches a transparent and universal Mathematics interface. Equation Construction and Display Tools There are a variety of tools that are available for the purpose of constructing equations, providing text expressions that can be converted to equations, and displaying equations. Some tools for creating and displaying equations on-line that may be of interest to those teaching mathematics are: fn1. fn2.
Edutech for Teachers » Tech Tip of the Week
Gooru: Science & Math Resources February7 Resource: Gooru is new service whose mission is to provide teachers and students with a variety of multimedia resources – videos, diagrams, interactive displays, documents and quizzes – related to 5th–12th grade science and math topics. By creating a Gooru account, one has access to over 50,000 resources categorized into a variety of subject areas: earth science, biology, chemistry, geometry, and algebra to name a few. In addition to being able to search the Gooru resources by keyword, users can browse the Resource Library or check out Gooru favorites in the “Featured Resources” section as well. Another feature about Gooru that is worth mentioning is the fact that the site’s resources are vetted and published by educators and aligned to U.S. Integration Ideas: Use Gooru to increase student engagement and motivation to learn by connecting subject matter with 21st Century resources and real life applications. Tech Tip of the Week Archives February3
E-Learning-Assistent
e-Learning Planning Framework / Professional learning
This section contains the e-Learning Planning Framework (eLPF) along with supporting information and resources. These resources are designed to support you, and your school, in assessing and developing your e-capability. The framework explained l eLPF documents l eLPF examples and resources l School stories l Discussion l e-LPF Māori medium Karen Melhuish, from the Te Toi Tupu consortium, explains the e-Learning Planning Framework (eLPF). She describes its purpose and how it is supported by content on the Enabling e-Learning website. The framework provides schools and teachers with: a self-review tool for schools to gather evidence about practice a 'road map' for building e-learning capability a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning programmes resources and services to support schools as they build capability. In this EDtalk, Karen Melhuish: e-Learning Planning Framework, Karen explains the elements of the framework and how it can be used. eLPF examples and resources Glossary
How to Create Screencasts You Can Be Proud Of
A few weeks ago we launched Screenr, a free screencasting application that is easy to use and great for quick tutorials and elearning courses. I like it because it’s easy for me to quickly answer the many questions I get in the user community and through the blog. Not only can I answer the questions quickly, but I now can share those same tips with other blog readers and members of the community. And it’s not just me doing the sharing. Screenr’s pretty easy to use. Prepare Your Environment Your success begins before you start recording. Record the best audio you can by using a good microphone. Prepare Yourself It’s all about having a plan and executing it. Have some water handy. General Recording Tips & Tricks Good screencasters make it seem like they just press record and start talking. Set up your screens. Tell the viewer what they should be looking at. Extra Screenr Tips Here are some recording tips that are unique to Screenr. Create interesting thumbnails. Select the right aspect ratio.
Top 11 Educational Video Websites for Teachers
The use of multimedia in the classroom is a great way of getting students engaged. One of the biggest challenges we all face today is how to hold students attention for a longer time. It seems like multitasking has taken every bit of attention from our students. No wonder, the visual stimulus they are exposed to is huge : Tv, video gaming, social networking, texting, emailing,are but the emerging tip of the iceber and unless we seriously address this phenomenon it will definetly grow out of control. One of the recommended suggestions in this regard is the use of video materials in your classroom . I am adding this list to the popular 80 Teacher Alternative to YouTube . 1- Teacher Tube This is a great video website for teachers looking for educational videos. 2- YouTube for Schools This is a channel Youtube has created to help educators access thousands of free high quality educational videos in a very secure and controlled learning environment. 3- YouTube for Teachers 4- YouTube Education
